New research from the Asphalt Industry Alliance has just revealed that one in six roads in England are in fact in terminal decline thanks to wetter winters, more traffic and years of underfunding, the Daily Mail reports.

It was found that the number of potholes that councils filled in dropped by 19 per cent in England in 2016, with London seeing the biggest fall of 43 per cent. What’s more, the Alliance has said that roads currently identified as being in poor condition won’t be fit for purpose in just five short years.

Commenting on the results, Edmund King – president of the AA – said: “The plague of potholes aren’t going to be filled any time soon. Even before getting to a main road drivers are using pothole-riddled roads, which they would be lucky to see resurfaced in their lifetime, as it takes councils 87 years to get round to it.”

Further research from the RAC has also found that between October and December 2016 a 24 per cent increase in the number of pothole-related callouts was seen. It’s not uncommon for serious damage to happen to cars that do go over potholes, including broken suspension springs, distorted wheels and damaged shock absorbers.

If you know your local roads are problematic, do your best to drive slowly and try to avoid the potholes as and where possible.